


Hands off my best guy

by TetrodotoxinB



Series: MCU Kink Bingo 2017 [15]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bingo square: protectiveness, Bullying, Canon-Typical Violence, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Protective!Bucky, Smol!Steve, brief mention of child abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-10 07:23:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12907023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TetrodotoxinB/pseuds/TetrodotoxinB
Summary: Steve gets beat up again and Bucky takes action.





	Hands off my best guy

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by the unbelievably fast [CaptBarnes](http://archiveofourown.org/users/captbarnes/pseuds/captbarnes).

Steve limped in the door at half past six, causing Bucky to look up from the table and sigh. Steve’s hair was all askew and there was dried blood on his upper lip and at the corner of his mouth. Both eyes were already a livid purple.

“Steve,” Bucky sighed, shaking his head. “What’d you get yourself into this time?”

Steve hung his jacket on the peg by the door and toed off his shoes. “Wasn’t my fault,” he muttered. 

Bucky’s eyebrows went up. “Oh really?”

“Bucky, come on. I was just walkin’ home and Albert Mickens and his boys dragged me into an alley,” Steve explained.

“Shit, Stevie,” Bucky groaned. “The Mickens boys? God, you’re lucky to be walking.”

“Old man O'Flanagan musta seen them. Came out of the bakery waving a giant rolling pin and cussin’ up a storm. ‘The devil take you all, you worthless, feckless shites!’” 

Bucky laughed. “‘Course he did. You got lucky. What’d they want anyway?”

Steve rubbed the back of his neck. “Albert got mad about that mugging I stopped last week. Said he wanted to teach me to mind my own business.”

Instantly, Bucky went from amused to enraged. “Oh, he wants to talk about people minding their own business, does he? I’ll show him which business is his.”

Before Steve could say anything, Bucky was already across the room and shoving his feet into his shoes. 

“Bucky, wait. Please, wait. There’s about nine of them. What’re you gonna go but get your ass kicked too? All I gotta do is paint like this, but you gotta work the docks. Let it go, Buck,” Steve pleaded.

“Hell, no. Someone beat up my best guy just for being decent, and you want me to let it go? You know they’re not done with you. It was almost funny when it was just a one time deal, but this? Steve, don’t be stupid,” Bucky argued.

“Oh, _I’m_ being stupid? Bucky, they’ll kill you,” Steve shouted.

Bucky laughed. “I got a few tricks up my sleeve, Stevie. Don’t you worry about me,” he replied as he slipped out the door.

Steve sat at the table for a few minutes before finally dragging himself over to the sink. He cleaned his mouth out and scrubbed the dirt and blood off his knuckles, then he carefully took off his clothes and poked around at his ribs. They didn’t feel broken, just bruised, so he didn’t bother wrapping them. 

Finally, he grabbed a rag and soaked it in cold water, made his way to the bed, and laid the rag over his face to help with the inevitable swelling. He tried not to think of Bucky out getting his ass kicked on his account.

*

The door swung open at ten of midnight and Bucky swaggered in. 

“Hey, there, Stevie,” he called towards the bedroom.

Steve startled awake, having fallen asleep waiting, and grabbed the rag off his face. “Bucky? God, you were gone for ages. What the hell happened?”

“Easy, pal. It’s all settled,” Bucky said with an easy smile as he came to sit on the edge of the bed. 

Steve gaped at Bucky whose hair was still perfectly in place. There wasn’t a scratch on him. “Buck, what did you do?” he asked in a panic.

Bucky shrugged. “I walked Micken’s little sister home from a date gone wrong, last February. Their ma, Mildred, and I have been friends ever since. She asks me to help her with groceries every now and again. She always tries to pay me, but I’ve never taken a penny. So when I told her that Albert and the rest of her boys was mugging people and then they roughed you up over stopping them, well she didn’t take it so kindly. To them I mean. She apologized real big, made me stay for dinner, and before I left they all apologized, too. I heard Albert getting the beating of his life from the street. That lady may not get around so well, but by god she can swing a belt.”

Steve stared for a second longer before breaking down laughing. “You told his _ma_? Bucky, he’s never gonna forgive us!”

“Maybe,” Bucky said, joining in the laughter. “But I’m damn sure he won’t bother you again.”

Steve leaned forward and pulled Bucky into a hug. “Thanks, Buck. I do appreciate you looking after me, especially when you don’t have to get into a fight over me.”

Bucky pulled back and ruffled Steve’s hair. “Hey, you know I don’t mind. Like I told you — to the end of the line, pal.”

Steve smiled and looked at his lap. “Yeah, yeah.”

“Now come on,” Bucky said, nudging Steve’s shoulder. “Whaddya gonna make me for dinner for saving your ass?”


End file.
